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Fundamental Data has filed for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to build a power plant on a 500-acre site near Davis. All output from the plant would be used on site instead of going to the regional grid that supplies electricity to residences and businesses. The gas-fired plant would produce about 1.6 million megawatts of electricity, which is slightly more than the Hanging Rock Energy Facility near Ironton, Ohio. Diesel generators would provide backup power, and plans for them require storing 30 million gallons of diesel fuel on site, Tomson said.

Almost no people who attended SundayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s meeting supported the plan for the plant as proposed, Tomson said Wednesday. About half would support the project if it were built farther away from tourist sites such as Blackwater Falls State Park, and about half donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t want the data center or the power plant at all, citing concerns about noise, the amount of water they would require, light pollution and impacts on the countyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s important tourism industry, Tomson said.

HB 2014 prohibits counties and municipalities from enforcing or adopting ordinances, rules or regulations that limit creation, development or operation of any certified microgrid district or high-impact data center project. It also directs property tax revenue away from local governments.

The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, a progressive policy research group, estimated a $1 billion investment for a data center in Tucker County would result in $2.1 million lost by the county and $3.2 million lost by the school district for a total of $5.4 million in lost property tax revenue, even after 30% of tax revenue is distributed to the county, Tony reported. Part of the money directed to the state would be used to reduce personal income tax rates.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis is going to supercharge our personal income tax reductions,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� House Environment, Infrastructure and Technology Subcommittee Chair Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, said in a House floor speech Saturday. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s going to empower our counties with additional dollars for all of the items they wish to have.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

What people in Davis want is to protect what they have while welcoming new investment, Tomson said. Local government should be involved in solving local problems, he said.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe need to find a balance and find a solution thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s palatable for all involved,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� he said.